Does your church need help learning how to talk about sex and gender? 

We can help!

Thanks to support from the Bangor Theological Seminary Center, we have started production of an 8 week video curriculum for adult Sunday School classes, small groups, and individuals.

Scripture and the New Science of Gender:  Understanding Complexity, Navigating Conflict, Equipping the Church

This series expands on the stories in our documentary, complementing them with teaching from pastors and other religious leaders, providing tools for healthy discussions, so that Christians can integrate their growing understanding of gender within their church tradition. If your church would like to beta-test this curriculum this fall (2018), please contact us for more information.

Many leaders in theologically conservative congregations want to equip their people for better conversations about gender but fear church conflict and schism. Many parishioners remains suspicious of science that doesn’t seem to fit with their readings of the Bible. Watching people of faith, whose bodies do not conform to our assumptions about male and female, share their personal testimonies offers conservative Christians a place to begin conversations about topics some fear to be off-limits. Meanwhile, progressive churches may be “welcoming” in theory, but their lack of knowledge about biological sex diversity can manifest in blind spots to practical matters of inclusion and the unique needs of intersex people and their families. Few understand how intersex people differ from LGBTQ people. Through careful study of Scripture participants are able to place their growing knowledge of gender science in the context of Christian faith, theology, and the gospel. 

In the spring of 2017, Dr. DeFranza was approached by an Evangelical Covenant church to help them begin discussions about sex, gender, and sexuality to enable their church to have more informed, charitable conversations. I told them the material was not yet complete but that I could present some stories and do the teaching and facilitating myself. We had originally scheduled 4 Sunday evening sessions but they found it so helpful the pastor asked if I could extend 2 more weeks! Now we are working to finish the curriculum so it can run itself, without our personal teaching and facilitation.